Welcome back to 4th & Blog’s “Fantasy Island”, a tropical paradise of questionable fantasy football advice.

I hope week 8 of the NFL fantasy season was good to you all. It was a week filled with huge fantasy performances from unexpected sources. Like Jason Witten’s 18 catch showcase for the Dallas Cowboys, or Doug Martin’s point parade on the Minnesota Vikings defence.

(Jared Allen still doesn’t know what the hell happened that night)

As always, a huge part of fantasy football success comes from your ability to wheel and deal AFTER the draft. One way to do that is with trades (although some leagues are not very trade friendly), another is to work the waiver wire. In addition to my usual “Fantasy Island: Start ‘em / Sit ‘em” posts I do here every Friday, Tuesday will be used to spotlight those highly sought after free agents that could be the final piece your team needs to get on the winning track.

Or stay there.

These are the hottest waiver wire targets heading into week 9 (for the record, I want you to do well… unless you are playing me):

1. Titus Young – Detroit WR

Week 8 statline: 100 yards receiving, 2 TD. Points – 22.00

Upside: The Detroit Lions are starting to get their offence back on track, and Young has been a huge part of that the last few weeks. Playing opposite Calvin Johnson, Young sees a lot of single coverage and has been exploiting that when given the opportunity.

Downside: I drafted Titus Young this season, but dropped him after a few weeks due to frustration with his point totals. The reason I picked him up is exactly what I said up there in “Upside”, I felt with Calvin Johnson taking most of the attention, Young would rip it up and pull in huge numbers every week. He struggled, I dropped him, and now he’s putting up those numbers. It’s tough to gauge whether or not the start of his year was the real Titus Young or the last few weeks was the real Titus Young. The only downside here is that uncertainty. Or the chance that the fans love him too much and end up kidnapping him…

2. Cecil Shorts – Jacksonville WR

Week 8 statline: 116 yards receiving, 0 TD. Points – 11.60

Upside: From a team standpoint, Cecil Shorts is in a terrible situation. Playing for the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars behind a rookie on the depth chart and a questionable QB fits that description in my opinion. However, from a fantasy standpoint, few shine brighter on the waiver wire this week than Shorts. RB Maurice Jones-Drew continues to sit out with a serious injury, and that rookie WR (Justin Blackmon) hasn’t done anything special yet this season. Also worth considering is that the Jaguars suck (sorry Jags fans) so they will be behind in a lot of games and unable to turn to MJD for help. Shorts has been targeted a lot the last few games since the MJD injury, so it’s obvious he’ll get some work moving forward.

Downside: Not a lot of downside to consider here. MJD will return to the lineup eventually, so the balance of the Jaguars current offence will shift back to “run-first” as soon as that happens. Until then however, Shorts could continue to put up a decent statline and be trade bait just before the playoffs.

Upside: This could be a HUGE get for your fantasy team, so if you can swing it, “Acquire the Dwyer”. The Steelers RB has rushed for over 100 yards in two straight games, but more importantly he has done so with only 17 carries. This is a guy taking huge advantage of ever shred of daylight in front of him, and making opposing defenses pay for it.

Downside: Although the Steelers are trying to re-establish their identity as a running team, they’ve had issues doing that this season. Add to that the fact that Dwyer is No.3 on the depth chart behind Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman and you’ve got some downside to consider. However head coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t care who you are, so long as you get yards. Even if “Redmendenhall” returns to the lineup, if Dwyer keeps up his high level of play, he’ll be “the man”.

4. Andre Roberts – Arizona WR

Week 8 statline: 65 yards receiving, 0 TDs Points – 6.50

Upside: Simply put: the Cardinals offense sucks, so they should be trailing in a lot of games this season, especially Sunday against a Green Bay Packers team we all know can make it rain points. The reason I like this pickup this week is because Green Bay is very vulnerable in its secondary, having surrendered the 10th most fantasy points to opposing WRs. Seeing as how WR1 Larry Fitzgerald will draw a lot of attention, you’re looking at Roberts to take advantage of single coverage in a weak secondary. I like it.

Downside: He is a WR in Arizona not named “Larry Fitzgerald”. This a cautious, matchup based pickup that may pay off further down the stretch if the Cardinals continue to fall behind in every game. Someone has to catch those passes, right? And like I said Roberts will be facing single coverage (much like Titus Young) so there are a lot worse moves you could make. Besides, if he puts up a huge stat line in week 9, YOU WILL LOOK LIKE A GENIUS! If not? Nobody will even remember you did this. Not a lot of risk involved.

5. Donald Brown – Indianapolis RB

Week 8 statline: 80 yards rushing, 0 TD. Points – 8.00

Upside: Brown was a steady flex option before going down with an injury several weeks ago. With his return to the lineup, he netted a nice point total and even though he might be in a time-share situation with Vick Ballard initially, Ballard didn’t exactly set the world on fire during his brief period at the top of the Colts depth chart. Add to that the fact that Andrew Luck is becoming a better passer with each game, and all of a sudden Brown could see a lot less attention from opposing defenses.

Downside: To be honest I don’t see a whole lot of downside here. Many owners probably dumped him after his injury (by the way, unless it’s a season-ending injury or the player is absolute garbage, don’t ever do that), so he should be available in your league. He might continue to split snaps with Vick Ballard for week 9, but if Brown gets hot early in the game, the Colts will stick with him and it will be bench time for Ballard.

6. Daniel Thomas – Miami RB

Week 8 statline: 42 yards rushing, 1 TD. Points: 10.50

Upside: Reggie Bush is the man in Miami, but his durability has been in question so far this season. Also, Daniel Thomas was at one point the Dolphins go-to running back of the future, so they obviously believe the guy has a lot of talent. If you are jammed up and need a viable flex option for week 9, Thomas might just be the guy to get you a crucial W.

Downside: Despite having a few off performances this season, Reggie Bush has played very well for the Dolphins. His offensive impact might take a hit with Thomas returning to the lineup, but as far as I’m concerned I won’t consider Thomas to be RB1 unless either Bush gets hurt again (likely) or Thomas puts up 200 yards rushing and 2 TDs (the opposite of likely).

Week 9 extra point pickup – Danny Amendola – St. Louis WR

Week 8 statline: N/A

Upside: Before injuring his clavicle a month ago, Danny Amendola was one of the highest scoring players in all of fantasy football. All it took was one freak injury to derail the incredible amount of momentum he built up, not to mention the chemistry with Rams QB Sam Bradford. He was initially thought to be out for a lot longer, but he almost made his return to the lineup this past Sunday against the Patriots. The Rams decided to err on the side of caution and let him rest for another two weeks (I’ll explain in a minute) before re-inserting him into the lineup.

Downside:Well, he can’t help you this week, as the Rams have their bye in week 9. However, a lot of fantasy owners dumped Amendola after his injury, so this might be a great time for opportunistic owners to snag him before his name shows up on all the “Waiver Wire Pickup” posts next week. I’m an Amendola owner, even now. The guys upside and ability was way too high for me to even consider dropping him for anything less than a season ending injury.

Usually this is where I sign off, HOWEVER this is a big fantasy week for a lot of people in “make or break” situations heading down the stretch, so 4th & Blog is GOING FOR TWO!

Upside: This target is DRIPPING with upside. Sure, that sounds kind of disgusting, but trust me, you will want to get in on the ground floor on this guy before the NFL trade deadline on Thursday. The Rams have instituted a time-share between Richardson and long-time RB Steven Jackson this season, with Richardson clearly the future of the franchise. Now word comes out that St.Louis is looking to move SJax by the deadline, so you can say goodbye to that time-share and say hello to some sweet sweet fantasy points.

Downside:If SJax can’t get moved at the deadline, you’re looking at a time-share scenario for the rest of the season. But even in that event, the Rams will give more carries to their future, rather than rely on their past. Make this move if you can. Lowest risk for the highest reward I’ve seen in the NFL all season.

That’s all for the week 9 waiver wire targets. See you all back here on 4th & Blog: Fantasy Island for Friday’s “Start ‘em / Sit ‘em”

You can follow j.Bow on twitter (@jBowmancouver). His patience with Danny Amendola is either going to pay off huge or make him deeply regret not picking up someone else a month ago.

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